# Opinions Needed



## Kook (Apr 20, 2010)

I bought these Cohiba Maduros from what I thought was a very reputable vendor. Everything seemed right on them until I got them home and noticed that the hinges on back looked in pretty rough shape. I then put the bar code into the habanos site and it came up as not registered. I'm wondering (hoping) if I put in the number incorrectly. Can those of you who have for more knowledge with these take a look and let me know what you think.

Thanks


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## elco69 (May 1, 2013)

Confirmed, it shows as not registered. On the cigar bands, is the Cohiba lettering raised? Do you have a black light that you can use the to check for the invisible ink seal? Can you take a closer picture of the warranty seal, mainly looking for the serial number prefix. If you would like, you can PM my the vendors and I can tell you if I have ordered from them before or not.

It also looks like that the Habanos Sa D.O.P. insert looks to be a solid piece of paper, it should be light in weight and semi translucent like rice paper and I checked my other boxes and they don't have the MFR. logo on it, unless this is another insert of some sort.. I will say this, just based on the photos and the serial number lookup, it does appear to be counterfeit, but I am not an expert so I would take that with a grain of salt.


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## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

I see a couple issues

Maduro 5 boxes come in cardboard boxes with no stickers on the actual cigar box. 

The government seal is an older style but box date is Abr 14. Should have current seal. 

No notch at all on cedar cover sheet. 

Cigars don't look dark enough to me. 

Box is labeled as "Genio". I dont have my box available right now but I'm 99.9% sure it is labeled as "Genios". 

At first I thought it might just be an older box but it's recent so it should have all the feature I've seen on the box I have.


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## StogieNinja (Jul 29, 2009)

elco69 said:


> It also looks like that the Habanos Sa D.O.P. insert looks to be a solid piece of paper, it should be light in weight and semi translucent like rice paper and I checked my other boxes and they don't have the MFR. logo on it, unless this is another insert of some sort.





magoo6541 said:


> Maduro 5 boxes come in cardboard boxes with no stickers on the actual cigar box.
> 
> The government seal is an older style but box date is Abr 14. Should have current seal.
> 
> ...


Add to these obvious signs the even-more-obvious signs of incorrect fonts for all text on the bands, to which you can add the even-more-obvious-than-that sign of incorrect white square rows.

Sorry man, these are fakity fake.



magoo6541 said:


> No notch at all on cedar cover sheet.


I have in the past gotten legit boxes with a cut corner instead of a curved notch. Cuba being Cuba, I suppose.


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## magoo6541 (Mar 9, 2014)

I looked again and see the notch now. I didn't see it before. I also have boxes with the diagonal cut but generally that's on the divider sheet, not the cover sheet.


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## Kook (Apr 20, 2010)

It certainly looks like I got taken on this one. Thanks everyone for your help.


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## CraigT78 (Apr 14, 2015)

Kook said:


> I bought these Cohiba Maduros from what I thought was a very reputable vendor. Everything seemed right on them until I got them home and noticed that the hinges on back looked in pretty rough shape. I then put the bar code into the habanos site and it came up as not registered. I'm wondering (hoping) if I put in the number incorrectly. Can those of you who have for more knowledge with these take a look and let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> ...


You are missing a row of white dots above the Cohiba logo.


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## NormH3 (Apr 20, 2015)

Kook said:


> It certainly looks like I got taken on this one. Thanks everyone for your help.


Curious if you have approached the vendor and if so what their response was.


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## Rock31 (Sep 30, 2010)

i would love to know where these came from....


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## Cigar Guru (Dec 22, 2012)

The pierced C is a classic sign of a fake. You can also use black light on the seal. A hologram of a Cuban Seal should come out.

I'm also interested to know where you got these.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Usually when you get 'taken' you learn a valuable lesson and tend to educate yourself so that it doesn't happen again. Lucky for us is that we have enough people/members on here that can lead you in the right direction before you make purchases in the future. It's all part of the journey.


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## Cigar Guru (Dec 22, 2012)

Kook said:


> I bought these Cohiba Maduros from what I thought was a very reputable vendor. Everything seemed right on them until I got them home and noticed that the hinges on back looked in pretty rough shape. I then put the bar code into the habanos site and it came up as not registered. I'm wondering (hoping) if I put in the number incorrectly. Can those of you who have for more knowledge with these take a look and let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> ...


What @Cigary said.

Also, if you have instagram, check out CigarEnforcer. You will never be duped again, I promise.


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## Kook (Apr 20, 2010)

They were purchased from a vendor at a resort I stayed at. I made the resort aware of what happened so hopefully other people don't fall victim to this. I definitely learned my lesson. I now own a blacklight and have the bar code lookup bookmarked.

Thanks to everyone for their help.


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## elco69 (May 1, 2013)

Kook said:


> They were purchased from a vendor at a resort I stayed at. I made the resort aware of what happened so hopefully other people don't fall victim to this. I definitely learned my lesson. I now own a blacklight and have the bar code lookup bookmarked.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for their help.


Yeah, you gotta be careful of those resorts, some already know what they are selling and do so because they make a huge amount of money of each box. I just plainly avoid those places unless it is a LCDH then you know you are safe to buy.

With that lesson being learned, I bet you become the go to person, out of your friends n family, to talk to before buying CC's :smile:


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## rartuso (Nov 12, 2014)

I got taken in Mexico for 2 boxes so dont feel bad. I only lost $60 bucks so it was a lesson learned. And yes it was the good old glass tops before i knew any better.


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## quazy50 (Aug 6, 2007)

I got taken in Jamaica, but I knew it was a fake. I just wanted the cool tube thing it came in... I have since lost said tube. I bought a real one at the same time though to smoke on the beach, it was great.


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## NCPANTHERZFAN (Aug 9, 2014)

Also, only 2 rows of dots on top rather than 3 is a quick indentifier.


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